Apparatus and method for continuous rework fermentation

ABSTRACT

A method and system for the reclamation and re-use of rework dough created in the process of forming a final good. Initially, the reworks are formed into a batter into which a catalyst is placed. Subsequently the batter is cooled and stored until it is added to a new batch of dough. Through this method and system there may be a nearly total re-use of rework dough.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/765,763 now abandoned which is a divisional of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/815,472 filed on Mar. 23, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No.6,743,457.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the creation dough, and moreparticularly to the use of rework in such dough.

BACKGROUND

In the baking and pastry industry, several types of pastry dough may beused in the creation of such breads and pastries that are generallysold. Furthermore, processes are generally known in the art for creatingsuch dough. One such dough and generally known process is that of makinglaminated dough in particular for use in croissants and pizza crust andother such pastries. Generally, a new mixture of flour, yeast and othernecessary materials are mixed together to form a dough. The dough istypically fermented or aged for an extended period of time to producethe desired results and taste. This dough is then extruded, folded andlaminated with particular fats to produce the desired finished product.The extended time of fermentation and the increased effort and labor oflaminating the dough and adding the additional layers of fats producesan expensive dough material. However, in the creation of the finalproduct, there is often extensive rework, also known as scrap, materialthat is produced that is unusable as a final product. Therefore, it isdesirable to produce a method of reintroducing the rework into theoriginal dough matrix to produce a final product.

Generally, rework may be added to an original or a new product batch.However, the rework generally has detrimental effects on a new productbatch; therefore, rework may only be added in small amounts so as not todestroy an entire new batch. Generally, the limitations on the additionof rework is in the range of 10–15% to rework based on total batchweight or less to a new batch. Therefore, any remaining rework cannot bereused is merely disposed of or sold as scrap.

Conventionally, the reworks would only be allowed to be used at a ratioof 10–15% to a new batch of batter. This is generally due to the factthat when yeast is allowed to continue its processes in the batter 10,it dies and releases glutathione which destroys the protein of thegluten of the dough. When the gluten of the dough is destroyed, thedough may no longer be used to form products and generally becomes wasteproduct that must be disposed. Therefore, in excess of 80% of the reworkis merely disposed of since it cannot be reused. That rework becomes awaste of money and time in the production of the original dough andfinal product. Consequently, an increase of rework that may be used in anew batch is desirable so as to save the 80% rework that cannot be usedto produce new batter and a final product.

Also, the reuse of rework that is generally known in the art leaves agreat amount of discretion and possibility of error to the baker on thebaking floor. This is due to the fact that the rework includes yeastwhich is continuing in its starvation cycle until it would destroy thegluten that is in the rework product. Therefore, the baker is left withthe discretion and the choice of placing a certain amount of rework intoa new dough process. This allows for great variation in final productthat is produced from a process and batter that includes rework.Therefore, it is particularly desirable to include or create a processthat allows for the reuse of a high percentage of rework without havingthe inconsistency that is created by the current use of rework.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method and process for increasing theamount of rework that may be placed into a new batch of dough to anamount greatly exceeding the generally accepted 10–15% and reachingnearly total reuse of rework that may be reintroduced into a new batchof dough. Furthermore, the process of the present invention, may allowfor a continuous reintroduction of reprocessed rework into a new batchof dough.

Generally, the rework will be reprocessed into a batter consistencyhaving an initial specific gravity between 0.50 and 0.80 by the additionof warm water. To this reprocessing batter, a catalyst is added whichquickens the dough to the stage in which it may be stored. Once thecatalyst has taken its effect and the batter has been further processedand cooled, the reprocessed batter is then stored and later added to anew batch of dough. Once the batter has been fully reprocessed, it maythen be added back to the original batter as a high reuse of the reworksfrom an original batch. This allows the original reworks to be reused ina more efficient manner so as to reduce overall cost. Furthermore, thereprocessed batter, after being added to a new batch of dough decreasesthe fermentation period of the new batch. This further reduces cost ofproducing the laminated dough by using this process.

Further areas of applicability of the present invention will becomeapparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It shouldbe understood however that the detailed description and specificexamples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, areintended for purposes of illustration only, since various changes andmodifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the processing of the reworks inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of the system required to carry outthe rework processing in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a mixer used according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an agitator of the mixer illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an end view of the mixer illustrated in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a chart showing the time-temperature profile for processingthe reworks in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIG. 1, the general process for continuous reworkfermentation is illustrated in flow chart 8 and generally includes theaddition of a catalyst and hot water to rework which is combined withfresh ingredients to form a dough. In particular, fresh ingredients 10and reprocessed batter 12 are mixed together at block 14 in a commercialvolume batch, large enough for use in industry or commercial bakeryprocesses. In this case, fresh ingredients 10 include at least flour,sugar, yeast and possibly other chemical leavening agents for theproduction of dough, and in particular laminated dough. The mixingprocess 14 includes the dough ingredients being mixed and laminated withthe other fats that are necessary to produce laminated dough. This isgenerally known in the art and summarily includes the working of thefresh ingredients and reprocessed batter 12 into a dough, which mayinclude kneading, that is then laminated with fat products to produce alaminated dough. The dough must be fermented or proofed at block 16.

After fermentation 16, a particular pastry, pizza dough, or other itemis formed in final processing at block 18 to produce a final product 20.The final product 20 may then be finished and sold. However, the finalprocessing 18 also produces rework 22 as a by-product thereof. Thisrework 22 is then reprocessed through a series of steps 24–28hereinafter described to form a reprocessed batter 12 which may becombined with fresh ingredients at mixing 14. It is to be understoodthat the laminated dough process is merely an exemplary dough processfor purposes of illustration. One skilled in the art will recognize thatthe present invention has application to other product produced fromother batters. Simply, the laminated dough is among the most expensive,therefore, the use of such a reprocessed batter would be the mostadvantageous thus it is used as the preferred example.

The rework 22 then begins a continuous rework fermentation whereinrework 22 is gathered together and placed in a suitable mixer to bereclaimed. After the rework 22 is gathered together, a measured amountof hot water 30 having a temperature between approximately 85 and 110degrees Fahrenheit is added to the rework 22. Preferably, the hot water30 has a temperature between 90 and 105 degrees and most preferably 105degrees Fahrenheit. The mixture of rework 22 and hot water 30 isprocessed to create a reprocessing batter. The reprocessing batter has aviscosity which is generally the consistency of a pancake batter with aninitial specific gravity between approximately 0.50 or 0.80, preferablybetween 0.60 and 0.70, and most batter, preferably approximately 0.70.

Next, a catalyst 32 is added to the reprocessing batter. The catalyst 32of the present invention which includes table sugar or sucrose,dextrose, vital wheat gluten, a suitable enzyme and a suitable carrier.As presently preferred, L-cystine is used as a suitable enzyme and flouror soy is used as a suitable carrier. The formation of reprocessingbatter, that is to say the mixing of the rework 22, hot water 30 andcatalyst 32 should be completed in approximately 90 seconds and mostpreferably 60 seconds. Therefore, the addition of the hot water 30 tothe rework 22 and the addition of the catalyst 32 to the subsequentreprocessing batter should occur rapidly such that the reprocessingbatter is maintained at an elevated temperature of approximately 105° F.

For a better understanding of the present invention, the function of thecatalyst 32 will be explained. The catalyst 32 speeds up the processesof the yeast remaining in rework 22. In this way, the yeast movesquickly to the end of its life cycle in producing the gas necessary toraise or proof the dough. If the yeast were simply left alone in thereprocessed batter without the catalyst 32, it would die, destroying thegluten and protein in the batter as discussed above. However, with theaddition of the catalyst 32, the yeast in the reprocessing batterquickly proceeds through its process and does not die as it usuallywould if left in the original rework 20. Without an extensive review ofbiology of yeast, once the sugar in the rework 22 runs out the yeastdies of starvation without naturally expiring leaving sufficient amountsof enzymes and such to destroy the gluten and protein of the dough.However, with the addition of the catalyst, fermentation of the yeast isaccelerated. Thus, when the yeast naturally expires, there are noenzymes left to destroy the proteins and the gluten of the batter. Inthis way, the reprocessed batter does not adversely effect the freshingredient to which it is added. Thus, the reprocessed batter 12 may beadded as a nearly 100% usage with fresh ingredients 10 as opposed toconventional use of rework at approximately 10–15% usage.

With reference again to FIG. 1, as presently preferred, the cooling ofthe reprocessing batter with the catalyst 32 is under a controlledcondition. As an initial summary, the temperature of the reprocessingbatter is reduced at block 26 from the original temperature of the hotwater 30 to a storage temperature of approximately 35 to 55 degreesFahrenheit in a generally linear manner over approximately 30 minutes.Preferably, the reprocessed batter 12 is cooled to a temperature in therange of 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore, the reprocessed batter12 with the catalyst 32 is pumped to a heat exchanger to remove heatfrom the reprocessing batter 12 and allow for the gradual cooling overapproximately 30 minutes. Once the controlled cooling 26 of thereprocessing batter is completed, the batter is stored at block 28 in arefrigerated container at approximately 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheitwhere it is available to be mixed with fresh ingredients 10 at block 14.

The following example is an illustration of the manner in which thepresent invention is carried out. As long as the proportions remainrelatively stable, smaller or larger batches of the reprocessing batterand fresh ingredients may be produced. A typical dough without theaddition of the reprocessed batter would generally include approximately100 pounds of flour, twelve pounds of sugar, one-half pound of salt,three pounds of yeast, and 50 pounds of water. In accordance with thepresent invention, a dough mixture for creating baked goods includesabout 30% to 55% fresh ingredients and about 45% to about 70%reprocessed batter. The reprocessing batter is used in place of thewater. Specifically, a dough may include 100 pounds of flour, twelvepounds of sugar, one-half pound of salt, 3 pounds of yeast, and 150pounds of the reprocessed batter. Since the reprocessed batter isformulated using approximately 250 pounds of original rework, 150 poundsof water and approximately twenty pounds of catalyst, 150 pounds ofreprocessed batter includes approximately 50 pounds of water.

In this specific example, the catalyst 32 includes approximately twelvepounds table sugar, four pounds dextrose, two pounds wheat gluten, fourounces of L-cystine and two pounds of flour for a total weight ofapproximately twenty pounds. More generally, the catalyst includesbetween 58–62% sugar, 18–22% dextrose, 8–12% wheat gluten, 0.75–1.5% ofL-cytine, and 8–12% of flour by weight. Most preferably, the catalystwill include a 59–61% sugar, 19–21% dextrose, 9–11% gluten, 9–11% flour,and 0.75–1.50% L-cystine by weight. Thus, the reprocessed batterintroduced into the new batter includes approximately 50 pounds of waterand 100 pounds of other ingredients including the flour, thenaturally-expired yeast, and the other sugar products from the catalyst32 and the reworks 22.

The dough including the reprocessed batter may be used just as a doughmade entirely from fresh ingredient would be used in the production offinal products. Therefore, there is no need of additional products touse the reprocessing batter. Furthermore, no exceptional or newequipment, (other than that used during the continuous reworkfermentation) would need to be used to produce the laminated doughbeyond that which is used already, even with the use of a new batterincluding the reprocessing batter. The creation of reprocessing batterin this manner allows for a consistent reprocessing batter. Sincefermentation of the yeast in the reprocessing batter has beenaccelerated through the use of the catalyst, there is nothing left inthe reprocessing batter that may destroy any of the proteins or otherconstituents of the batter. Therefore, as long as the reprocessingbatter is stored at the proper temperatures, it may be used at any timefrom immediately after its creation through an extended delay withoutany special discretion or knowledge of the baker producing new batter.Therefore, inconsistencies that may have been produced through the useof conventional methods of using rework are no longer present due to thecatalyst and the reprocessing method disclosed herein.

An additional advantage of the present invention is that thefermentation period of a dough including the reprocessing batter may besignificantly decreased. Conventionally, the inclusion of a longfermentation period at block 16 is needed. When using an all freshingredient batter, the fermentation period 16 is generally between 12and 24 hours. Such an extensive fermentation period is necessary for theyeast to produce the gases to proof the dough and to create the desiredfermented taste in the final products 20. However, with the use of thereprocessed batter 12 in combination with the fresh ingredients 10, ashortened fermentation period, on the order of 4–6 hours or less asrequired by a specific application, may be utilized. The fermentationperiod may be so decreased because the reprocessed batter which has beencompletely fermented imparts that taste to the new batter when it isadded thereto. Therefore, an extended fermentation period is not needed,only a period long enough to proof the dough.

With reference to FIG. 2 the continuous rework fermentation system 40for producing the reprocessed batter is illustrated. A mixer 42,suitable for production of commercial amounts of laminated dough, isnecessary into which the reworks 22 may be placed. As previouslydiscussed, the reprocessed batter, which has an initial specific gravitybetween 0.50 and 0.80, is produced by mixing hot water 30 along with thecatalyst 32 and the reworks 22 in the mixer 42.

With particular reference to FIGS. 3–5, a preferred mixer 42 for thedisclosed reprocessing apparatus is shown. Particularly, mixer 42includes a bowl 44, a shaft 46 with rotating tines 48, fixed tines 50affixed to the bottom of the bowl 42. In this way, the shaft 46 havingrotating tines 48 affixed thereto may spin about an axis A within themixer 42 mixing the reprocessing batter that is placed therein. Withparticular reference to FIG. 5, it may be seen that the rotating tines48 having an alternating orientation to form a series of “V” shape. Forexample, a first tine 52 is oriented from the upper left to lower rightdirection while a second tine 54 is oriented from the lower left to theupper right direction. This pattern is repeated along the length of theshaft 46. In this way, the orientation of the rotating mixing tines 48allow for the ease of mixing the reprocessing batter. Furthermore, thisorientation ensures the complete incorporation of the catalyst 32 andhot water 30 with the rework 22 that is placed in the mixer 42.Furthermore, the specific orientation of the rotating tines 48 allow fora kneading action of the reprocessing batter. Though not shown, thestationary tines 50 may also have a similar orientation to furtherassist in the kneading or the working of the reprocessing batter.Moreover, it is preferred that the mixing speed within the mixer 42increase over the 60–90 second mixing period. In this way the rework 22may be more efficiently mixed to incorporate the catalyst 32 and water30 therein.

With reference again to FIG. 2, once the reprocessing batter isprocessed to an acceptable specific gravity, a pump 56 pumps thereprocessed batter to a heat exchanger 58. A valve 60 is placed in linebetween pump 56 and heat exchanger 58 to control the flow of thereprocessing batter. The heat exchanger 58 is preferably a glycol-typedevice which removes the heat from the reprocessed batter in acontinuous and controlled manner. The pump 56, heat exchanger 58 andvalve 60 are controlled by a controller 62 to ensure that the heattransfer from the reprocessed batter is at the desired rate. Withreference to FIG. 6, the heat removal from the reprocessed batter ispreferably a generally linear reduction from the temperature of the hotwater down to a temperature of approximately 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheitin a time interval of approximately 30 minutes. The discharge of heatexchanger 58 is coupled to an acceptable storage unit 64. A valve 66 maybe used between heat exchanger 58 and storage unit 64 to control theflow of the reprocessing batter. Once in the storage unit 64, thereprocessed batter is held at the approximately 40 degrees Fahrenheitfor further use in the process.

When needed, the reprocessed batter is removed from the storage unit 64and transported to a mixer to produce a new batter. The reprocessedbatter need merely be pumped from the storage unit 64 since it stillmaintains a specific gravity between 0.80 and 0.90. As such, continuousrework fermentation system 40 is a self-contained module that may bereadily incorporated into an existing facility. Due to the fact that thereprocessed batter is in a slurry, a pump 56 may be used to move thereprocessed batter from unit to unit as opposed to a manual movement ina trough or other container by human power or a conveyor system. Aspresently preferred, pump 56 is a positive displacement with stainlesssteel wheels. Such positive displacement pump minimizes any cavitationproblems which might arise during pumping or the reprocessing batter.

In accordance with the present invention, the rework 22 may be reused ata very high rate in a new batter. This being the case, the cost ofproducing laminated dough may be significantly reduced by the saving ofsuch reworks 22. Furthermore, the time needed to move from the mixingstage 14 to the final processing stage 18 is greatly reduced by the useof the reprocessed batter. The reduction of fermentation period ofapproximately 12–24 hours to a fermentation period of approximately 4–6hours or less as required by a specific application also includes adramatic decrease in production costs and an increase in productionspeed. Furthermore, the creation of a reprocessing batter withhas aspecific gravity preferably no less than 0.40, and even after beingstored preferably not greater than 1.0, allows the reprocessing batterto be pumped from unit to unit. This allows for the increased ability offully automating the system of creating a reprocessing batter. Thisadvantage also decreases the time and human labor required in the reuseof rework. Additionally, the consistency of the reprocessing batter isnearly the same from batch to batch using the presently disclosedmethod. Therefore, the discretion and possible mistakes or errors of thebaker would be eliminated by the use of the presently disclosed catalystand method.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same maybe varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as adeparture from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all suchmodifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intendedto be included within the scope of the following claims.

1. A dough mixture for creating baked goods comprising about 30% to 55%fresh ingredients including flour, sugar, salt, and yeast and about 45%to 70% reprocessed batter including a catalyst, water, and a reworkdough.
 2. The dough mixture of claim 1, wherein said catalyst comprisesabout 58–62% of sugar, 18–22% of dextrose, 8–12% of wheat gluten,0.75–1.50% of L-cystine, and 8–12% of flour by weight.
 3. The doughmixture of claim 1 wherein said catalyst comprises active ingredients ina weight ratio of 16 pounds of sugar, 2 pounds of wheat gluten by weightand about 4 ounces of enzyme by weight.
 4. The dough mixture of claim 3wherein said sugar comprises about 75% sucrose by weight and about 25%dextrose by weight.
 5. The dough mixture of claim 3 wherein said enzymecomprises L-cystine.
 6. A dough mixture comprising: a fresh dough havinga fresh flour content and a fresh yeast content; and a reprocessedbatter including a rework dough having a rework flour content and arework yeast content mixed with a catalyst and water in an amount suchthat substantially all of said rework yeast content is naturallyexpired; wherein said reprocessed batter exceeds 15% by weight of atotal weight of the dough.
 7. The dough mixture of claim 6 wherein saidpercentage of said reprocessed batter is about 45% to about 70% of saidtotal weight of the dough.
 8. The dough mixture of claim 6 wherein saidcatalyst comprises active ingredients in a weight ratio of 16 pounds ofsugar, 2 pounds of wheat gluten and about 4 ounces of enzyme.
 9. Thedough mixture of claim 8 wherein said sugar comprises about 75% sucroseby weight and about 25% dextrose by weight.
 10. The dough mixture ofclaim 8 wherein said enzyme comprises L-cystine.
 11. The dough mixtureof claim 8 wherein said catalyst further comprises a carrier.
 12. Thedough mixture of claim 11 wherein said carrier is selected from thegroup consisting of flour and soy.
 13. The dough mixture of claim 6wherein said reprocessed batter further comprises about 58–62% of saidrework dough, about 33–38% water, and about 3–6% of said catalyst.
 14. Adough mixture comprising about 38 parts flour, about 33 parts reworkdough, about 20 parts water, about 3 parts catalyst and about 1 partyeast, said catalyst includes about 87 parts sugar, about 11 parts wheatgluten and about 1 part enzyme, said sugar includes about 3 partssucrose and about 1 part dextrose.
 15. The dough mixture of claim 14wherein said enzyme comprises L-cystine.
 16. The dough mixture of claim14 wherein said catalyst further comprises a carrier.
 17. The doughmixture of claim 16 wherein said carrier is selected from the groupconsisting of flour and soy.
 18. A reprocessed batter comprising about58–62% of a rework dough including a rework flour content and a reworkyeast content, about 33–38% water, and about 3–6% of a catalyst fornaturally expiring substantially all of said rework yeast content. 19.The reprocessed batter of claim 18 further comprising about 60% of saidrework dough, about 36% of said water, and about 4% of said catalyst.20. The reprocessed batter of claim 18 wherein said catalyst comprisesactive ingredients in a weight ratio of 16 pounds of sugar, 2 pounds ofwheat gluten and about 4 ounces of enzyme.
 21. The reprocessed batter ofclaim 20 wherein said sugar comprises about 75% sucrose by weight andabout 25% dextrose by weight.
 22. The dough mixture of claim 20 whereinsaid enzyme comprises L-cystine.
 23. The reprocessed batter of claim 20wherein said catalyst further comprises a carrier.
 24. The reprocessedbatter of claim 23 wherein said carrier is selected from the groupconsisting of flour and soy.
 25. A dough mixture comprising flour,sugar, yeast, and reprocessing batter including rework, water andcatalyst in a weight ratio of about 100 pounds of said flour, abouttwelve pounds of said sugar, about three pounds of said yeast, about 90pounds of said rework, about 53 pounds of said water and about sevenpounds of said catalyst, wherein said catalyst includes activeingredients in a weight of about 87% sugar, about 11% of wheat glutenand about 1% of enzyme.
 26. The dough mixture of claim 25 wherein saidsugar comprises about 75% sucrose by weight and about 25% dextrose byweight.
 27. The dough mixture of claim 25 wherein said enzyme comprisesL-cystine.
 28. The dough mixture of claim 25 wherein said catalystfurther comprises a carrier.
 29. The dough mixture of claim 28 whereinsaid carrier is selected from the group consisting of flour and soy. 30.The dough mixture of claim 25 wherein said water comprises about 36% ofthe reprocessing batter by weight.